The number of 5G base stations in China had risen to more than 3.6 million by the end of March 2024, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Thursday.
At a press conference in Beijing, officials from the ministry briefed the media on the development of China's information and communications industry in the first quarter of 2024.
Spokesman Zhao Zhiguo said that by the end of March, China has set up 3.647 million 5G base stations, with the 5G user coverage surpassing 60 percent.
The network ports with gigabytes service has reached 24.56 million, and the world's first 400G all-optical inter-provincial key network was officially commercialized as well.
Zhao emphasized that the ministry will continue to consolidate and enhance the competitive advantage and leading position of China's information and communications industry by focusing on high-quality development.
Based on innovation, China is promoting the integration of multiple technologies, such as 5G, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI).
For now, 5G is evolving to 5GA or 5.5G while research and development on 6G and 10-gigabit optical network has been advancing.
China will speed up its research and development on big data and AI, as well as the mass application of the industrial internet, Zhao noted.
China home to over 3.6 mln 5G base stations
China saw the single-day passenger trips nationwide reach an estimated record high of 280 million on Wednesday -- the first day of the five-day May Day holiday season, which was a 15.9 percent increase over the corresponding day in the pre-pandemic year of 2019, according to official data released by the Ministry of Transport.
The railway passenger traffic volume is expected to reach 20.4 million trips, the highway cross-regional passenger flow is expected to exceed 257 million trips, the waterway passenger traffic volume is expected to reach 900,000 trips, and the civil aviation passenger traffic volume is expected to exceed 2.11 million trips, the data show.
Wednesday witnessed a robust growth in the railway passenger flow, prompting plans to add another 1,738 passenger trains on the day. To ensure seamless travel for passengers, the railway authorities have taken steps to bolster security checks and verification channels, deploy additional staff in key areas, and enhance coordination with other transportation sectors like the bus, subway and taxi transportation sectors to facilitate passenger travels.
In terms of highway passenger transportation, from 00:00 on Wednesday, small passenger cars each with seven seats or less are allowed to travel toll-free on highways nationwide. The national highway network is operating at peak capacity, which may lead to brief congestion and slower traffic flow around large and medium-sized cities during peak hours.
As for civil aviation, the civil aviation authorities planned to carry out 17,023 flights on Wednesday, with operations running smoothly overall.
China sees passenger trips reach record high on first day of May Day holiday
